The largest market in South America is in the town of Otavalo, north of Ecuador’s capital, Quito. The main plaza is an overwhelming maze of blankets, sweaters, necklaces, and a little of everything else, including the biggest grapes and strawberries I’ve ever seen.
Thanks to the cool weather, we happily perused the streets and soaked up the scene for more than five hours.
Our plane landed in Quito at midnight, and we headed straight for Otavalo. Our AirBnB was on the outskirts of the town, near the village of Peguche. We arrived at about 3am, to a steady stream of people walking and singing in the streets. Turns out we showed up just in time for the Inti Raymi— the summer solstice celebration when indigenous pilgrims come to bathe in Peguche Falls. We took the short hike up there after recovering from the market, but skipped the bathing.
Here’s the large but humble home we stayed in:
We finally met our host family that evening. The daughter, Christina, and I took turns speaking broken Spanish and English. Within a few minutes, I confirmed what my co-worker David Graham told me— Mormon missionaries refer to Otavalo as “Utahvalo” because there are a lot of Mormons. Among them is Christina’s cousin, whom we shared a cab ride with to the Peguche ward the next morning. Mormons are generally a friendly bunch, but this was another level.
